ARTH 431
Visual Cultures of Colonial South Asia Fall 2015
Division I Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed ASST 431
This is not the current course catalog

This course explores the visual and material cultures — architecture, sculpture, painting, photography, craft, print culture, and film — that rose from the impact of British colonial activity in the Indian subcontinent since c.1650. We will trace how this encounter transformed art making in South Asia, from the development of new genres to the establishment of new artistic networks and institutions. Drawing from a range of theoretical positions and historical perspectives, we will also examine the dynamics of colonial encounters in both directions. How did the visual cultures of colonial South Asia articulate the ideologies of the British Empire on one hand, and provide strategies of resistance and identity formation for the indigenous groups on the other? How did the movement of objects from the colony transform British visual culture? Topics include representing the Indian landscape, the East India Company and trade, photography and ethnography, collecting and displaying Indian objects, indigenous modernity, and art and nationalism. This course fulfills EDI requirements through its exploration of the cross-cultural encounters between Britain and South Asia and the role of visual culture in reinforcing or disrupting difference and power relations.